Potato-digger.



No. 771,800. PATENED OCT.. 4, 1904.

J. S. ROBBINS.l PGTATO DGGER.

APPLICATION ILED DEO. 7, 1900. N0 MODEL. r 3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

BATENTBD 00T. 4, 1004 J. S. ROBBINS. POTATO BIGGER. APPLI0AT10N FILM 1130.7, 1900.

7.1. 7m .la mw TNO MODEL.

.N0 MODEL.

. 1 PATENTE 00T. 4, 1004.

J. S. ROBBINS.4

POTATO BIGGER.

APPLICATION FILED 030.7, 1900.

3 SHEETS-*SHEET 3.

. JSAH S. ROBBXNS., @F ALLENTQWN, NVE-TRV` JERSEY.

eomy'olue l SPECFXGATQN forming pari; of Lemiers Patent No. ?'?`,8, ated Seizqber l, 3.904. I Mumien mea December 7, 1900. serial No. 39,054. (no 11106615 T0 U/Z wlm/ t m65?! @UVWTLI as the digging operation plogressesed vines, Beltlznown thet, Josie? SROBBINS, ecm together with eil weeds and grass the@ oe Zen of the United States and e. r sidenoi" Alound with ehe seme. bem(y 'nav emoved 3 I A a l: J I lentown. New Jersey have myened cerbem by s eme! means cam-led et the rezu o' ehe 5 Improvements in Potetoe-Dgges, of which machine. 55

' the 'foHowlng 1s a specleation. En the machine forming the subject of my My invention consists of poinyen'on. l l represent ehe tmoton-Whees, *cato-digg@x of such consum/tion and enge: f preferably provided Wh heavy egs Wherement that am enebed 5o dig the poetoes by the erection is increased and the dfezenb Io readily, seperate the earth from the Seme, and perte of the eehne positively driven by the 60 nally remove to one side of he Tow the Vines movement of seid Wheels. These wheels to which the potatoes weve eigteeeeo when n efe carried by en melo which aso serves lo the ground., together with e WeeCs end grass carry the ente amewok of the machine, #bei may be found with the such fmmewok ooxnpisng the General beam 15 My invention eso includes e. epeoie device 4%, side arms 5, mount-ed on *Jee axle meer the 65 for G'ethering the vines infie e x f dreey in whees es G, and secured o the formno. line Witl the pow of yabe meel fue, whereby end of the beam, at 7, and the i shaped said vines wH oe confined beuween the mein side membeys The arms eso peofreme of the machine Whout danger of oog" vided with projeongmembers 91, "Lo x'hen the zo gingany of tnemovn" ofhe eej/gemeine tongue IO of the machine is eolmeoeed il. '70 nnt they are ceught b special oceed Garfield ne J-sheped members 8.. ehe ein es the rear of the meehne end se'e'p* eyiey pei' and lower portions of which nembee fxom'jshe poetoes. Secured together by crossbars l2@ uough My' nven'on is uy Huetree-'f in the eo which he 3 the' bine pesses is the 2 5 compe ying .drewingse in whiehplow or shove' 1.3. These 75 Figure l is side eleveon of the meohine pffoey inox e on e. so that the Wih one of the Wheee x-enove. p! w may be rs" or oweced, desed, and

View of 'he machine.

s@ the se vand directly in the rear of the tines 24, carried by the shovel 13, are a series of disks 25, which are rotated in the opposite direction to the movement of the machine and tend to carry ,c

rearwardly the mass of earth, potatoes, and

vines plowed up by the machine. These disks, arranged 1n gangs, as shown, are spaced apart so thatl` the loose earth may fall between the same, but sufiiciently close together to insure the passage of the potatoes over the same; These gangs of disks are positively driven as the machine is moved forward by means of a chain 26, passing over a sprocket-wheel 27, carried byl the shaft of the middle gang of disks, said chain deriving its power from a sprocket-wheel-28, mounted on a shaft 29, the

latter receiving its movement from the main axle 3 of the machine throughthe medium of the gear-wheels 30 and 3l, the latter being carried by said axle 3. The shaft of each gang of disks has a gear-wheel 32, and mounted on the frame between said wheels are the intermediate gears 33, so4 that the movement imparted to the sprocket-wheel 27 serves to drive the entire series of disks in a direction opposite to the movement of theA machine. The driving-gears and intermediates are preferably inclosed by a suitable casing 34, so that there will be no danger of clogging these moving parts by any earth or stones thrown up by the plow, and the casing 34 carries a guardpiece 35 to protect the sprocket-wheel 27 and a portion of the chain 26. 4

The shaft 29, carrying the sprocket-wheel 28 and gear-wheel 30, is journaled in suitable bearings carried by the cross-pieces 12 of the U-shaped members 8. moved rearwardly as the plow is lifted from the earth, and as there is no necessity of the gangs of disks rotating when the.digging operation is completed I may provide special means for moving the shaft 29 so that the pinion 30will be thrown out of engagement with the gear-wheel 31 as the plow is raised. In machines of this character it is particularly desirable that the vines and all accompanying weeds and grass be confined in as close a space as possible before the ground is opened, and for this purpose I arrange at the front of the machine a concaved roller 35, having a mounting similar to an ordinary caster, comprising a frame 36, in which it is journaled, said frame 36 having a pin 37, adapted to a suitable bearing or opening in a block-casting 38, disposed between the beam 4 of the machine and the tongue 10. Carried by the box or frame of this, roller are a pair of arms 39, curved in a forward direction and having their points 40 arranged close to the ground. These arms pass under the vines and serve to gather them in as the machine is moved forward, so that they may be crushed by the roller 35. This gathering of the vines prevents their spreading apart after the plow These parts willV be l l l or shovel has done its work and the vines are .65

confined within the space of the machine and without danger of clogging any of the workig parts.

Although I have shown and described means for gathering the vines and weeds in a rowin advance of the plow and for crushing the-same, so as to reduce their bulk and enable them to pass through the space bounded by the frame-of the machine, I make no claim to the same herein, such mechanism forming the subject of an application for pa:- ent filed by me on the 17th day of September, 1904-, Serial No. 224,791.

To insure the passage of the main axle of the machine-over the vines as they are drawn under the same, I provide another crushingroller, 41, carried by suitable arms 42, secured to the U-shaped members 8, and thisroller has a corrugated face made up of a series of angular slats 43, so that there will be no danger of the vines bunching up in front of the roller, as might be possible with a smooth roller. This roller may be positively driven by means of the sprocket-wheels 44 and 45 and chain 46 or may receive its movement by contact with the mass of vines. In either' instance it moves in the direction indicated by the arrow a" and serves the purpose of keeping the vines out of contact with the axle of the machine.

At therear of the machine I mount a wheel 47, secured to an axle 1.48, which is journaled in a bearing 49, having arms 50, by means of which it is pivoted to the axle 3 of the'machine, said axle 48 being supported by means of a swinging bearing 5l, hung from an arm 52, hinged at 53 to the beam 4 by a spring 54.

Splined or otherwise secured to themain axle 3 of the machine is a bevel-gear 55, meshing with a similar gear-wheel 56, secured .to theshaft or axle 48 and serving to drive the wheel 47 at an angle to the machine as the latter is moved. This wheel 47 is provided with a series of bent lingers 57, suitably secured to the rim of the said wheel, and these fingers serve to throw the vines clear of the potatoes as said wheel is rotated, rI he path of the wheel will resemble a portion of a screw-thread of an extremely deep pitch, being due to the fact that said wheel is moved forward and revolved at the'same time.

I provide the spring bearingsupport above described, so that the wheel may lift when. passing over. an obstruction, and the fingers 57 are preferably arranged so as to just clear the ground when. 'the wheel 47 is suspended froim its spring-support, as shown in Figs. 1 an 5.

Whenthe potato-digger is not in use, the wheel 47 may be raised out of its operative position (shown in Figs. 1 andl 4) in the 'following manner: Carried by 'the lever 14 is a depending arm 58, which is connected, by

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' hinged arm 52,- which supports the swinging bearing 51. The aXle 48 of the wheel 47 being journaled in said swinging bearing, said wheel may be raised by moving the lever 14 rearwardly, as such movement will raise theV swinging bearing through the connections just described, and clearly shown in Fig. 4. The wheel 47 is shown in the normal operative position and is prevented from dropping any lower by the stop 63, carried by the hinged arm 52, said stop abutting against the end of the beam 4f. The plow, however, is shown raised from the ground, but not in position to be transported. The movement of the lever 14 to raise the wheel 47, however, will also raise the plow to a safe position for movement from place to place when not digging. The gangs ot' clearing or cleaning disks (shown in Fig. 2) are arranged in line, as shown, so

as to provide the best means for breaking up and lcarrying' away the earth surrounding and clinging to the potatoes. rlhese disks are spaced apart about an inch and a-half and are provided with clutch-hubs 64, (clearly shown in Figs. 5 and 6,) so that they may be held in place and be readily turned by means of a single shaft passing through the same, the latter being keyed thereto and having its end mounted in brackets 66, secured to the L- shaped members 8 by means of suitable nuts and washers.

Under most conditions I prefer that the gangs of disks shall be of the same diameter throughout; but in light ground it may be advantageous to use for the last series disks somewhat less in diameter than these of the iirst two series. Such construction I have shown in Figs. 7 and 8, in which the last scries of disks 25 are one-half thediametcr of the others, the smaller disks being shown with their lower surfaces on the same plane with the larger disks. is more o r less advantageous in light ground, such as sandy loam, as the same is more readily separated from the potatoes than the heavy earth or clayey soil. In order, however, that this constructionmay be used in the heavier soils, the shaft of the gang of smaller disks is carried by swinging arms 67, pivoted to bosses 68, which latter are secured to the U-shaped frames of the machine and have set-screws 69 or otherI means whereby said disks 25 may be arranged in any suitable position with respect to the other series of disks, the U-haped members 8 having depending portions 70,with slots 71 for said set-screws. means of keeping the vines clear of the working parts of the machine I may secure to the U-shaped frames 8 adjaeent'to the plow the Such construction as this As a further arms 7 2, which are adjustable toany'desired position.

rIhe machine is provided with the usual' spring-supported seat 73, (shown in dotted linea) secured to the beam and preferably mounted directly over the main axle of the machine.

Having thus described my invention, I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination in a potato-digger,of the frame, a digging member carried thereby and adapted to be drawn through the ground, and a series of rotatable, concentrically-mounted disk plates having circular peripheries and arranged at the rear of said digging member, said plates providing a moving platform having a surface which constantly maintains the same plane and serves to receive the material raised by the digging member, separate the looser portions and pass the balance to the rear of the machine.

2. rIhe combination in a potatodigger,of the frame, a digging member carried thereby, a series of rotatable, concentrically -mounted disk plates having circular peripheries and journaled in suitable bearings at the rear of the digging member, said plates forming a platform having a surface which constantly maintains the same planeand serves to receive the material raised by the digging member, separate the looser portions and support the balance, and means for rotating said disk plates whereby the material carried by the same will be positively moved to the rear of the machine.

3. The combination in a potato-d igger,of the frame,'a di ggingmember carried by said frame and adapted to be drawnthrough the ground,

said digging member being .cut away at the rear, a series of fingers arranged within the cut-out portion of the digging member and extending rearwardly in line with the frame, such fingers serving to receive and support the material raised by the digging member and provide for the preliminary separation of the earth from the potatoes, and a series of rotatable, concentrically-mounted disk plates having' circular peripheries and arranged at.

the rear of said digging member, said plates providing a moving platform having' a surface which eonstant y maintains the same plane and serves to receive the material raised by the digging member and passit to the rear of the machine, at the same time permitting separation of the earth from the potatoes.

. In testimony whereoil I have signed my name to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses. i

JOSIAH S. ROBBINS.

itnesses;

dos. N. IIANKINS, JAMES H. (onDoN.

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